He’s one of only three survivors of a rural road disaster that killed 11 men near Stratford.

Ten months later, still recovering from the horrific crash, he’s once again in a fight for his life — a nasty catch-22 that pits a family that desperately needs him half a world away, against his fears that leaving Ontario to help them might mean he can never get back.

Part of Juan Jose Ariza’s dilemma turns on his wife and son back in Peru: She’s laid up in hospital after major spinal surgery, and their seven-year-old boy is living alone.

But Ariza worries that if he leaves now, with a work visa that expires Jan. 31, he may never get back into Canada.

“I’m very worried because I can’t help them much,” he said Thursday from the London apartment where he’s recovering. “I would like to go and stay with her. My son is seven years old and he’s alone. He feels bad right now because his mother is away and his father is, too. I’m scared for him; he needs his father.”

Ariza, 35, was a Peruvian migrant working on a chicken farm near Stratford Feb. 6, when he loaded himself into an extended van with 12 other workers for the drive home after a hard day’s work.

The driver, who wasn’t licensed to drive a vehicle with that many passengers, ran a stop sign just as London trucker Chris Fulton was crossing the intersection.

The catastrophic collision killed the 38-year-old Fulton and 10 workers in the van.

The three survivors suffered extensive, critical injuries.

Ariza has come a long way from death’s door in the months since. Recovering in London, he can now walk with the aid of a cane but has post-traumatic stress disorder. Sometimes, just the sound of a truck outside his window at night frightens him out of bed.

He’s desperate to be home in Peru with his wife and child.

The seven-year-old boy is living alone in the couple’s small apartment with the help of neighbours, who look in on him.

Problem is, Ariza fears his work visa won’t be renewed, even though the crash occurred while he was on the job.

He’s been told by a lawyer that if he leaves to see his family in South America, there’s a very high risk he won’t be allowed to return. No one has told him he’ll be stopped at the airport, but neither has anyone guaranteed him safe passage.

That risk terrifies him.

Not only would he be unable to get the same level of care for his injuries in Peru, but he and his family would be thrust into poverty because finding a job would be next to impossible.

Ariza’s English, once almost non-existent, has improved to the point where he can be interviewed without a Spanish translator’s help.

“I would like to make a life here — get a job, to bring my family here. I like Canada, I like London and I like the people. I want to find a job and have a normal life,” he said.

Among his most passionate supporters is Fulton’s widow. Although – or maybe because – her husband was killed in the disaster, Teresa Sommers-Fulton has become close to the three survivors, especially Ariza.

She’s urging the federal government to expedite the process and guarantee his return should he leave.

“My heart goes out to Juan, his wife and his son,” she said. “I can’t imagine – especially at this time of year – the pain and suffering and the choice that he has to make, due to regulations set by our government. My hope is that someone, possibly even the prime minister, will step in and grant me this Christmas wish.

“Please let Juan go home and be with his family and then come back and get the medical help he needs, hopefully bringing his family with him so that he provides for (them) for the rest of his life.”

Another tireless advocate for Ariza is Pastor Ron Burdock of London’s North Park Community Church, a place of worship for many Latinos. Burdock says a lawyer in Toronto is working on the case for free. Other groups have stepped in to help however they can, he said, but the wheels of bureaucracy turn too slowly.

“Jan. 31 is his deadline, so imagine he goes for a couple of weeks and then comes back. He shows up at the airport on Jan. 10 and he’s got a cane and they’re wondering why he’s coming back. ‘Your visa is up Jan. 31.’ So there’s a risk if he leaves. We’re hoping to get him an extension on humanitarian grounds as soon as possible, so he knows that he can leave.”

Burdock hopes the publicity will spur the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) to help Ariza as quickly as possible.

“This is a perfect example of where he should be home. We’re hoping that coverage will trigger WSIB to do everything in its power to get him home. If his wife dies and he’s stuck here, I think people will be pretty upset that WSIB didn’t take the initiative to get him home.”

Ariza shook his head when asked if he thinks there’s a reason he survived when so many died.

“I ask myself that all the time, but I don’t know. Hopefully, it’s because I need to take care of my wife and son.”

While the WSIB couldn’t be reached for comment, the Canadian embassy in Peru promised a response.

— On Feb. 6, 13 migrant workers, most from Peru, had finished a day of chasing and catching chickens to be vaccinated at Hampstead Poultry, northeast of Stratford, when they set out for home in a van.

— The van was going west on Line 47 in Hampstead when their driver, David Armando Blancas-Hernandez, ran the stop sign, colliding with a truck driven by Londoner Chris Fulton that was going south on Perth Rd. 107.

A photo of Juan Ariza's seven year old son Flavio taken the day before Juan traveled to Canada to work as a migrant worker. He is living at Kensington Village Retirement Home in London, Ontario where he is convalescing from injuries incurred a year ago in a horrific automobile collision last February. Eleven people, including 10 migrant workers were killed in a crash in Hampstead, Ontario. Ariza and two other survived. DEREK RUTTAN/ The London Free Press /QMI AGENCY